Houston Chronicle

Pair honored for quest to return relics to soldier’s family

Mysterious bag in attic yields 1960’s era items

- By Brooke Baitinger Sun Sentinel

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. — Their rented house of five years was suddenly foreclosed upon. Meghan Burns, her three children and her boyfriend, Jeremy Teitler, were in a rush to move to a smaller apartment.

Teitler took a final check around the attic.

In the corner was an unfamiliar suitcase full of dated photo albums. A framed display of military medals and uniform pins from the Vietnam War rested on a basket nearby, covered with a cloth. An American flag that would once have adorned a soldier’s coffin was folded among the objects.

Sometime during the display’s long life, the glass in the frame shattered over the awards.

The couple’s curious discovery started them on a quest that would lead to a glimpse into history, a connection with a slain soldier and even congressio­nal recognitio­n.

Frantic and uncertain of the significan­ce of their find, Burns and Teitler packed the mysterious memorabili­a into their trunk and left their old home behind.

Upon further inspection, they realized they had found a family’s relics of their beloved soldier, Pfc. Geoffrey Saunders. Letters from a chaplain, a former secretary of state and a platoon leader revealed he was killed in combat in 1968 in Vietnam. He was 19.

“This was someone’s son, their brother,” Burns said. “It needed to go home.”

For months the couple tried to track down Saunders’ family. Eventually, they reached out to Coral Springs Talk, a local online newsletter, to get the word out.

And eventually, they found Saunders’ 68-yearold sister, Darlene Stosik of Pembroke Pines.

Stosik wasn’t easy to find. She hadn’t seen the story in Coral Springs Talk, but her third cousin, Kathleen Stock, discovered it while researchin­g a family tree.

Stosik didn’t even know Stock existed until she called her about the story in the newsletter.

“It’s pretty mind-boggling,” Stosik said. “I was so happy that this family took it upon themselves to make sure that they got this to me.”

It would have been easier for them to just dispose of the items.

“This is history,” she said. “This is a family’s history.”

The couple met Stosik at a Starbucks in Tamarac to return the items.

“When I saw the flag (from his coffin), I broke down in tears,” Stosik said. She explained to the couple that she had been very close with her brother and was only 21 when he died.

“When I had heard about his death, I didn’t want to believe it, and I thought maybe they found some other guy’s body,” she said.

Wednesday, Stosik stood with Burns and Teitler as they were honored by Congressma­n Ted Deutch of West Boca at a Coral Springs town hall meeting. He presented them with congressio­nal certificat­es for their effort to locate Stosik.

Stosik later said her brother, as a dual citizen of the United States and Jamaica, was not drafted for war. He volunteere­d.

How the relics ended up in Coral Springs is a mystery. Her mother had the items but never lived in the city.

“I didn’t think there were any other photos or anything out there, so this is just amazing,” she said. “It’s almost miraculous that it turned out the way it did.”

 ?? Carline Jean / Sun Sentinel ?? Darlene Stosik, left, looks over items from her brother, Pfc. Geoffrey Saunders, who was killed in Vietnam in 1968. Meghan Burns, right, found them.
Carline Jean / Sun Sentinel Darlene Stosik, left, looks over items from her brother, Pfc. Geoffrey Saunders, who was killed in Vietnam in 1968. Meghan Burns, right, found them.

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